Feel free to ignore that altar in the back decorated with candles, herbs, incense, and a pentacle tile.
Inuyasha screams at Kouga that he stinks of human blood, demanding to know how many humans he killed. Kouga retorts that he was just eating dinner, and asks if "Dog-Turd" has a problem with that. Just using the epithet in lieu of Inuyasha's name, I'm sure. It makes Inuyasha recoil in disbelief, however, clearly not sure how to respond to so brazen an insult. Off to the side, Miroku repeats the term to Sango in lowered tones, and she asks him if he got it? Not sure what that means here, considering HE was the one who parroted it to HER, but... sure. Whatever.
Kouga spits off to the side, claiming that the smell of dogs gives him an intolerable headache. Poor baby. Inuyasha is cool with this, drawing Tessaiga and offering to slice off Kouga's skull so it won't hurt anymore.
Kouga introduces himself as the son of the Youkai-Wolf Tribe, telling Inuyasha to remember it. Not very threatening to suggest the guy is going to have TIME to remember it, but what do I know? Miroku asks Sango if she's acquainted with the Youkai-Wolf Tribe, and Sango says she's only heard about them from fellow exterminators. The rumors appear to be a mirror shine on the truth, which is that the Tribe takes on the form of human beings, but are as rough as regular old wolves. Not going to worry about your friend fighting a wolf-like individual at all? Just gonna stand around again? Yeah, alright.
Inuyasha manages to dodge a punch that shatters the ground where he was standing from Kouga, but...
Kagome stutters, but ultimately doesn't have an answer, because Inuyasha interrupts her. He rolls off his back and into a crouch, admitting that he had wondered just how strong Kouga was with his overblown attitude. He immediately follows this up by mocking Kouga's relative weakness for having been using the Shikon shards this whole time. If this is the best Kouga can do with the power of the Shikon no Tama, Inuyasha isn't impressed. Kouga shouts back at Inuyasha not to lecture him about being weak while losing, then calls Inuyasha a dog-turd again, just for good measure.
Meanwhile, Kagome is all kinds of flabbergasted as she mutters that she can't get a word in edgewise. Fair; it's not easy trying to drop crucial information to a man in a shouting match with another man. I've tried. Sango just looks somewhat annoyed when Miroku says they're both rather coarse, and Shippou warns him that he can't tell THEM that. Yeah, because they won't HEAR him.
Inuyasha vows to stop that bastard's big mouth from flapping permanently, charging with Tessaiga drawn. Kouga jumps out of the way of a blow, then throws his weight into his crooked knee to thrust it at Inuyasha. Inuyasha isn't too slow to notice the move this time, and deftly catches Kouga's knee before it can shatter his zygomatic.
He concentrates to catch wind of the rift formed between the youkai energy and air when they collide while Kouga is... still running at him. Sorry, but wasn't this the guy that was kicking up dust-tornadoes before by being so fast? What happened? This mysterious time dilation goes unnoticed by Inuyasha, who smells that elusive Kaze no Kizu and lifts Tessaiga to cut through the path of the smell between himself and Kouga. In anticipation of Tessaiga's true explosive power, Inuyasha yells at Kouga to take it, but...
Kouga makes his immediate retreat, ordering all his wolf pals to follow suit because something stinks. They obey and follow his dusty trail as he sprints into the distance. Inuyasha stands with a blank look on his face, sword still held in front of him but without anything to do now. Kagome shares in his wide-eyed mystification while Sango states the obvious: he ran. Kagome marvels over how ready he was to do so.
Miroku asks Inuyasha if he was about to use Kaze no Kizu, and Inuyasha absently affirms this, looking at Tessaiga as though he's trying to extract answers from IT instead of Kouga. He gives up on his confusion, though, putting away the sword to smarm about how easy it was for the guy to run off, being all talk. Well, not ALL talk. I'm sure he bruised your jaw pretty good there, Inuyasha. Miroku admits a certain amount of contemplative skepticism, so Inuyasha asks him what's on his mind.
He says that Kouga shouldn't know about Tessaiga's explosive power, and says that perhaps some intuition was at work forewarning Kouga of the danger. Sango interjects, citing Miroku's speculation as a possible reason Kouga would be a bit harder to finish off than someone with brute strength. Regardless, Miroku is loathe to leave someone controlling man-eating wolves to prowl around unchecked, and Inuyasha agrees. Not to mention, he's still really sore about the guy calling him a dog-turd. Twice.
Elsewhere, Kouga complains that the hairs on his body are still standing on end. He calls Inuyasha a dog-turd again (does he still not know his name, or does he just not give a shit?), musing about how he was about to do something strange with the sword. Then his thoughts turn toward the girl, who had been the one to point out just how many Shikon shards he was using and where they were. Kouga realizes Kagome is able to see the Shikon fragments, and this gives him an idea. He tells his wolves to fall back and lure the group out so he can capture the girl.
Just out of curiosity, though, what's the health insurance plan like? Do you have dental?
So, what did I think of this chapter overall? I already love the dynamic between Kouga and Inuyasha. Often in these types of stories, you get characters that present something of a what-if scenario in contrast to the main character, and Kouga is one of those. I feel like he is what Inuyasha WOULD be, if he were a full youkai and not bogged down by an entire life living between the lines. Kouga shows no lack of confidence in what he can do and himself, which makes his identity a bit more secure than Inuyasha's.
Besides, the two of them are so alike that they're bound to clash in the worst way. Both loud, obnoxious, with a ton of bravado and not much in the way of restraint. I can see why Kagome was having a tough time of trying to make herself heard with all the noise these two were making. Calling her an idiot for not being able to raise her voice above the racket isn't only inaccurate, it's something that Inuyasha will undoubtedly come to regret very soon. Getting caught in the crossfire of insults is going to make Kagome a little tired of the verbal lashings.
But goodness was I unimpressed with how Inuyasha's attempted use of Kaze no Kizu went here. I can understand that there was some intention to make it seem like time had slowed down for Inuyasha in his mind so we could get a good picture of the concentration he's pushing here, but this would have been better illustrated with an opponent that had not used Shikon shards to modify their speed to the faster side. Yes, Sesshoumaru is also very fast, but his speed was a natural ability, and you got the impression that he would deliberately slow down to show off how much leisure he could get away with while his opponent struggled.
One could argue that Kouga having a laugh at Inuyasha's effort in blocking one attack is an indication that he was doing the same thing on the next, but with Shikon enhancement, who knows how much control he really has, or what kind of understanding he has of how to control it at all. As I said above, Kouga is like Inuyasha in that he has little to no restraint, the only obvious sign of that coming when he books it due to intuitive alarm bells.
Though I would be lying if I said this was the only part of the fight that contributed to the discomfort of how that Kaze no Kizu attempt was handled. After all, this was yet another spat where most everyone was just standing around watching Inuyasha do all the work. When I go to baseball games, I don't do it so I can watch everyone else spectate. I go to watch the game and the players in it. I understand that RT's team is a tad bigger than what's of utility at the moment, but it would be handy for her to write these in a way that involves all her players rather than just one while everyone else sits in the dugout.
I think I took the baseball metaphor a bit far, but you know what I mean.
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